In a conventional elevator installation, the elevator car is supported within a structural frame. Guides in the form of roller guides or guide shoes are mounted by a series of bolts to each corner of the structural frame to engage with opposing guide rails mounted along the hoistway and thereby guide the car smoothly as it travels through the hoistway. Similarly, the counterweight is normally contained within a structural frame having guides mounted at each corner to engage with opposing guide rails.
During modernization of an existing elevator, it is often necessary for the technician to replace the guides on the car and/or the counterweight frames. However, the existing bolt hole pattern left behind in the structural frame after removal of the existing guide might not match the bolt hole pattern required by the new guide. Hence, before the modernization can commence, the technician needs to visit the installation to determine the existing bolt hole pattern by either identifying the existing guide or by actual measurement. Thereafter, on a case by case basis, an adapter plate is manufactured to interface the new guide with the existing bolt hole pattern.